Sordello shrugged. "But more horses would not get you as far and as fast as that ship will. And it is no more than Count Simon would have had to pay if he had done the bargaining himself." "Less," Simon admitted. In his desperation he had actually been thinking of offering Guibert a flat hundred florins. _Wait! What is happening here?_ he asked himself suddenly. When he had first seen Sordello this morning, he had fully intended to turn him away here in Livorno. Now he was paying his passage to France. Again he was being taken advantage of. He leaned forward suddenly, planting his folded arms on the table. "But why must I take you, Sordello, eh? What further use are you to me? Can I not save some florins if I leave you on the dock here?" Sordello looked pained, brushing the curly gray hair back from his forehead. "What I have just accomplished shows Your Signory how useful I can be." "Thus far you have nearly ruined my mission by attempting to murder an Armenian prince--" "That was more than a year ago, Your Signory." "And you have failed to learn anything useful as my agent in Ugolini's household." "Your Signory! If not for me, you would have been totally unprepared for the attack on the Monaldeschi palace." Simon saw that Sordello's rough skin was reddening. His bad temper was threatening to break through. It was true, though, that Sordello's warning about the Filippeschi attack by itself made up for all the man's misdeeds. The mention of Ugolini's household brought back the pain of that parting from Sophia. He pictured again that dizzying moment when he almost possessed her, remembered how he had poured out all his secrets to her. He saw again her tears and remembered his own, that he had shed after she ran from him. The memory made him feel like weeping now. Hoping to sound casual, Simon said, "The cardinal's niece--I believe her name is Sophia. Did you see her before you left Orvieto?" Sordello's discolored eyes met Simon's. "No, Your Signory. I have seen little of her since the night of the Filippeschi uprising." _Damn this gap-toothed brigand!_ Simon continued to pretend to be casual. He stood up and yawned. The wine made him feel less in control of his feelings than he liked. "Let us go and see this ship you have found for us." "Your Signory, you have not told me whether you will take me back into your service." Simon shook his head, as if tormented by gnats. "After we see the ship." Sordello sighed and led the way out of the inn. They crossed the cobble-paved roadway that led along Livorno's waterfront, Simon breathing deeply of the salt-smelling air to clear his head. Sordello pointed. "There it is." He was pointing toward the same big, ungainly buss that Simon had visited earlier, whose captain had refused Simon. "But he said he was going to Cyprus!"